Emerald Downs: Makors Finale, D’honorable One dead-heat in Auburn Handicap

AUBURN, Wash. - Makors Finale and D’honorable One were fit to be tied Sunday at Emerald Downs. The speedy 3-year-old colts hooked up with three furlongs to run in the $50,000 Auburn Handicap and duked it out around the turn and through the length of the stretch before reaching the wire together - the second dead heat in a stakes race in the track’s 16-plus-year history.

The winners covered the 6 1/2 furlongs in a stakes-record 1:14.53 on a fast track and were three lengths clear of 40-1 longshot Brady’s Kat in the field of eight 3-year-old colts and geldings. D’honorable One, the 11-10 betting favorite, returned $2.60. Makors Finale, the 9-2 third choice, paid $4.20. City Twister, sent off at 3-1 following a smashing victory in a maiden race in his career debut, finished fourth. He was followed by Brudda Clyde, Havanna Red, Johnski, and First Last Chance.

Makors Finale, a homebred for Karl Krieg of Oak Harbor, Wash., was making his first start at Emerald Downs following a prosperous winter in Arizona, where he was second in both the Turf Paradise Derby at nine furlongs on dirt and the Tempe Handicap at a mile on grass. Jockey Gallyn Mitchell recorded his 75th stakes victory at Emerald Downs, adding to his track record. And winning trainer Tom Wenzel capped an eight-day run that included a victory with Exclusive Diva in the Seattle Handicap and a smashing victory by Rainier Ice in a $32,000 claiming race Sunday. Rainier Ice, making his first start in 10 months, ran six furlongs in 1:08.10.

D’honorable One took down his first stakes victory and won for the fourth time in six career starts, all for owner Heidi Nelson of Bothell, Wash. He captured a first-level $32,000 optional claimer at Golden Gate in February in his first start of the year, and then rolled to a 6 1/4-length victory in a no-conditions allowance at Emerald on April 29. He earned $18,750 for his efforts Sunday, pushing his lifetime earnings to $67,815. Makors Finale has lifetime earnings of $63,352 from seven starts.

D’honorable One ranged up outside Makors Finale and took a short lead in the final furlong. But Makors Finale, after setting the pace, fought back gamely.

“For a split second, I did pass him, but (Makors Finale) was game on the lead,” said Leslie Mawing, who rode D’honorable One. “Both Gallyn and I rode our horses past the wire. We both thought the other had won, but I guess the wire couldn’t separate us.”